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Kim Abeles
Kim Abeles is an artist who was born in Richmond Heights, Missouri, on August 28th, 1952 (70 years old). Daughter of Burton Noel Wright and Frances Elizabeth (Sander) Hoffman. She now lives in Los Angeles, CA, where she has based her artwork and exhibitions on environmental issues and resources. Abeles has collaborated largely with groups that advocate women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights, AIDS/HIV, feminism, etc. She has also been recognized through awards and grants as an artist and as a professor at California State University, Northridge.
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Early Life and Career:
Kim Abeles received her Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Painting, from Ohio University, in 1974. Later she completed her Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art, at the University of California, Irvine, in 1980.
At the beginning of Abeles's career, she was a Freelance artist, in Los Angeles, since 1975. She later on became a Lecturer at various schools and art centers, since 1980. While also conducting visits to distinguished artists at California State University, Fullerton, through the years 1985-1987.
Later on, she became a Professor at California State University, Northridge, from 1998-2009. While also obtaining various other artistic opportunities in Measums and schools, such as Artist-in-residence at Art Mill in the Czech Republic, in 2005, Commissions Community Magnet School, Bel Air, California, 2006, and Los Angeles Unified School District, 2007. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Career Fundamental Artwork & Exhibitions:
- In 1987, Kim Abeles innovated a method to create images from the smog in the air leading her to create her exhibition called Smog Collectors.
- Abeles has also collaborated with Camp 13, a group of female prison inmates stationed in the Santa Monica Mountains who fight wildfires, on her project, Resilience; and, Valises for Camp Ground: Arts, Corrections, and Fire Management in the Santa Monica Mountains.
- Abeles created a public art piece in collaboration with the city of Los Angeles called, Walk a Mile in My Shoes, which pays tribute to Native American tribes.
- Abeles worked alongside AWBW’s Community Arts Advocate, Sandra Mueller, and created the Pearls project for shelters and community groups statewide who suffered from domestic violence.
- Abeles helped produce a set of Tarot cards that informed the public about AIDS and its medical aspects. Printed in both English and Spanish and used as part of a public health information program in Los Angeles in 1992.
- In 1991, Kim Abeles created a sculpture named, To Sit As Ladder (In Honor of Rosa Parks), which displayed a chair with text to represent the life of Rosa Parks. - Abeles has exhibited her work in twenty-two countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, the Czech Republic, England, China, and South Korea, to name a few.
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Achievements and Awards:
Kim Abeles was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013. The Guggenheim Fellowship is intended for those who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts. Alongside being awarded grants from the Andy Warhol Foundation and Peter Norton Foundation and fellowships from J. Paul Getty Trust Fund for the Visual Arts, Pollack-Krasner Foundation, and the California Arts Council.
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Artistic Work:
Kim Abeles explores the urban environment with a great sense of curiosity. She incorporates both conventional and unorthodox media to explore broad social topics. She uses metaphors and humor to bring our attention to crucial issues such as pollution, gender roles, civil rights, and traffic. Abeles's work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Museum of Contemporary Art; United States Information Agency; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Yucun Art Museum, Suzhou, China; Sandwell Community History and Archives, U.K.; and is archived in the library collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt Publication Design Collection of the Smithsonian.
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Current List of Exhibitions:
Solo Exhibitions in 2021-2023:
- COMING UP: Kim Abeles: Social Furniture, Ronald H. Silverman Fine Arts Gallery, California State University Los Angeles; September 14 - October 30, 2023
- Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020, Library Gallery, California State University Sacramento
- Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020, Curated by Jennifer Frias, Nicholas and Lee Begovich Gallery, California State University Fullerton; September 18 -December 18, 2021.
- The book, Kim Abeles: Smog Collectors, 1987-2020
- Kim Abeles - A Survey, Curated by Michele Ellis Pracy, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA; July 30, 2022, through January 8, 2023.
Group Exhibitions in 2023:
- Southern California Contemporary Art: Gifts from the Stuart Spence and Judith-Vida Spence, Laguna Art Museum; February 4 - July 31, 2023
- Technologies for Change curated by xtine burrough, SP/N Gallery, University of Texas, Dallas; January 20 to February 25, 2023
- Reflections on Our Warming Planet, Curated by Lucinda Luvaas, LA Artcore at Union Center for the Arts; March 4-April 8, 2023
Group Exhibitions in 2022:
- In Nature Nothing Exists Alone, Co-curated by Chris Costan and Laziza Rakhimova, NYC Culture Club at the World Trade Center, New York
- Mapping the Sublime, Co-curated by Beth Davila Waldman and Lawrence Gipe, Brand Library and Art Center, Glendale, CA
- Extraction: Earth, Ashes, Dust, Co-curated by Isabel Beavers and Sharon Levy, Presented by SUPERCOLLIDER X TAM, Torrance Art Museum, CA
- On Air, Co-curated by Iris de Kievith, Jo Pearl, and Annemarie Piscaer for Ceramic Art London at The Crossing at University Central Saint Martins, London
- Air, Curated by Whitney Tassie, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, Salt Lake City
- Reflections on Our Warming Planet, Curated by Lucinda Luvaas, Lois Lambert Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA
- From Sea to Shining Sea, Curated by Koan Jeff Baysa, Fellows of Contemporary, Chinatown, Los Angeles
- Sky Space Time Change, Co-curated by Sharrissa Iqbal and Michael Duncan, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA
- If Not Now curated by Gayle Paul, Portsmouth Art & Cultural Center, VA
- Fire Transforms curated by Rina Faletti, Palo Alto Arts Center, Palo Alto, CA
- Hurry Slowly, Carolyn Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, CA
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Gallery:
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References:
Kim Abeles Website: Website: https://kimabeles.com/
LA Times Article, “ART: Working With Smog (And Other Stuff)”: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-09-19-ca-36580-story.html
Figure Ground Interview with Abeles: https://figureground.org/an-interview-with-kim-abeles/
LMU: Abeles Art and Activism: https://cfa.lmu.edu/labandgallery/exhibitions/pastexhibitions/2010/kimabelesartactivism/
StreetBlog LA Article on Abeles Walk A Mile in My Shoes Installation: https://la.streetsblog.org/2014/07/18/lovely-art-installations-evoking-walking-placed-in-hard-to-walk-to-locations/
CSUN Prof. Abeles Appreciation and Background Page: https://csunshinetoday.csun.edu/arts-and-culture/csun-emeritus-professor-receives-guggenheim-fellowship/
Kim Abeles: America for the Arts Profile: https://www.americansforthearts.org/users/19598
NY Times Article, “Kim Abeles Turns the Climate Crisis Into Eco-art”: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/09/arts/design/pollution-abeles-art-fullerton-environment.html